spacecurve()
command for plotting curves in space. Dynagraph's concept of
a space curve is a one-dimensional ordered sequence of points mapped
into the three-dimensional space.
A space curve can be displayed as a continuous curve (in which case its points are connected by straight line segments) or a set of disconnected points in space. Unlike surfaces, space curves are not affected by dynagraph's light settings and appear at a fixed color and intensity.
spacecurve([f, g, h], t=a..b);
f, g, h: expressions in t
Numerous optional arguments can modify the default appearance of
the curve. These are described in Plotting Options.
In particular, the option numpoints=n determines the number of
points that will be used to draw the curve.
Multiple curves can be plotted with one spacecurve command by enclosing
curve definitions in curly braces {...}.
Examples:
> spacecurve([cos(t),sin(t),t/4] ,t=0..4*Pi);
> spacecurve( { [cos(t),sin(t),t/6], [sin(t),cos(t),t/6] },
t=0..4*Pi, thickness=4);
# The following from Maple's spacecurve demo:
> spacecurve({ [sin(t), 0, cos(t)], [cos(t)+1,sin(t),0] },
t=0..2*Pi, numpoints=11, thickness=5);
Space curves and surface plots can be saved and then displayed
together with the display() command:
Examples:
> p1 := spacecurve([cos(t),sin(t),t/4], t=0..4*Pi, thickness=5);
> p2 := plot3d(x^2+y^2,x=-1..1,y=-1..1);
> display([p1,p2]);